The Prank
by daily-chan
Summary: The decision to keep a certain truth hidden from Remus leads to disastrous consequences in what is later referred to as The Prank. Part of the A Bond of Family series but can be read alone.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason._

 _Summary: The decision to keep a certain truth hidden from Remus leads to disastrous consequences in what is later referred to as The Prank._

 _Warnings:_ _Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button._

 _Characters being injured and perhaps some harsh language._

 _This story is part of a series called A Bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, then the chronological order can be found on my profile._

 _ **Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me. Thank you for your endless patience and kindness and I am sorry I put you through this story. *hugs***_

 _ **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

James stretched with a yawn, tossing his book onto the library table on an early Sunday afternoon.

Sirius and Remus were both still looking through their own books, though Peter was completely spaced out.

"Anything yet?" he tapped Sirius' ankle as his brother's legs were resting over his own comfortably.

"Not really, there's a bunch of pages about how dangerous and rare the lot of them are, but nothing on how to efficiently deal with them," Sirius met his gaze with a smile as James softly rubbed his ankle when he felt the muscles spasm under his touch.

"Most common advice is to run like hell," Remus agreed as he placed his book onto the table as well. "But just how you are supposed to outrun something like that isn't mentioned."

"I did find an antidote for their venom. Maybe we can brew it next week so we won't need Madam Pomfrey any more if we happen to run into them again," Sirius closed his book and turned to Remus. "Think you could...Rem?"

James frowned at the sudden sense of urgency in his best friend's voice, startled as the other suddenly pulled back his legs and rose.

"We need to go," a couple of waves from Sirius' wand packed their stuff and returned the books to their places, startling Peter into awareness.

James got to his feet as Sirius pulled Remus out of his chair, shoving their shrinking bags into his pocket before hurrying after them when Sirius dragged a protesting Remus along with him.

"What's going on?" James ran to catch up with his friends as Sirius hurried down the hallway, dragging a now silent Remus with him.

"Si..."James' eyes widened in alarm as Remus suddenly doubled over with a pained groan, almost pulling Sirius off his feet with his supreme strength as they were still holding hands.

But the other boy seemed to have been expected it and compensated for it by moving with the sudden pull, all the while his eyes frantically looking around.

Kneeling down before Remus to see what was wrong with him as the other trembled, James' eyes widened as he caught sight of amber coloured eyes and growing teeth.

"Merlin..."he scrambled back as he finally realised what had Sirius dash out of the library like that.

"In here," Remus' bones cracked and began to shift as Sirius almost tossed him into an unused classroom, pulling a few hairs out in the progress before doing the same with his own hair.

"Ward the door, any protection and silence spells you can think of. I'll do the same from the inside and stay with him while you two lure everyone away just in case."

James looked down at the hairs Sirius pushed into his hand.

"That liquid...got it. Let me know when the coast is clear," James closed the door behind Sirius, hearing him cast spells and quickly followed his example.

"Peter, follow me," he turned when he was done, setting several traps in the hallway to prevent people from coming close to the classroom.

"What's going on?" Peter hurried after him confused.

"I don't know how or why, but he's changing into Moony. So we're going to lure people away from here for however long it takes for him to turn back again. Remember the prank Sirius and I were talking about last week?"

"The firework one?"

"No, Sirius deemed that one too dangerous. The frog one, with so many chocolate frogs running around no one will really notice they..." James trailed off as the sky was darkening around them and a quick glance outside told him the answer.

"A solar eclipse...never mind the prank, we'll just make sure they are seen and try to keep people away from that hallway."

"How?"

"Polyjuice. It is what Sirius gave me those hairs for. He must have known about the eclipse."

"But brewing that takes ages!"

"No, we've been trying to find other uses for it so there's a batch in Slughorn's office," waving the rest of Peter's questions off, James led them to Slughorn's office.

Relieved the office was locked and Slughorn nowhere to be seen, James broke in and collected enough for them to transform before they hurried to rarely used bathrooms and locked themselves in.

"You're smaller than me so you take Sirius or your robes will become much too short," James dropped the black hairs into two newly transfigured mugs.

"Cheers," taking a deep breath, James gulped down the disgusting potion and tried not to throw it up.

Before his eyes, Peter grew while at the same time losing about half his weight, making him look odd before his face began to change and his hair shortened and turned darker.

Groaning as he himself started to change, he almost buckled, immediately realising something was wrong and gasped as the transformation was completed.

"Oh..." Peter stared at him with Sirius' wide eyes and James was overcome with a sense of wrongness as he stared at the boy across of him. "You're..."

Turning to see himself in the mirror he was horrified to see he'd grown hair all over his face and arms.

"Crap," his face was a mix between his own, a wolf's and he could see some parts of Remus' strong jaw and his eye colour.

"You can't Polyjuice a werewolf?" Peter unhelpfully swallowed, but James only glared at him irritated.

"All right, change of plans. You make sure you're seen, just don't talk to anyone unless you absolutely have to."

"W-what if they ask where you guys are?" the squeaky stutter in Sirius' normally soft voice annoyed James.

"Don't speak; you'll give everything away that way. Just act like you are seeking for us in a game of hide and seek but don't go near where they are hiding. If I can undo this before the hour's up, I'll come find you, else return here."

"All right," Peter nodded, leaving and James turned back to the mirror after he locked the door again.

"Okay..." staring at his weird reflection, he pulled Sirius' bag out of his pocket to search for the Potions kit and the Marauders Map. Retrieving both, he laid them out on the sink beside him and activated the map.

He glanced at Peter's dot hurrying down the hallway before seeking out the unused classroom where Sirius had locked Remus and himself up, taking a deep breath as he noticed neither dot was moving.

Staring at it a few seconds he willed either of the dots to move, cursing when it didn't happen.

Quickly he set to work as he realised he couldn't leave the bathroom looking like he did, if people recognised parts of Remus' features they might begin to ask undesired questions and he couldn't risk that.

Yet it still took him the better part of the hour to undo the Polyjuice's effect, slightly delayed by his inability to not keep checking the map in the hopes the dots were moving.

The moment his features had finally completely turned to normal, he tossed everything back into Sirius' bag and grabbed the map before dashing from the bathroom with his heart in his throat.

He wasn't too worried about the fact that Remus' dot still wasn't moving as it told him the boy was either passed out after the sudden transformation or hopefully Sirius was keeping him still.

He tried to tell himself that was the case, but knew he was lying to himself as Sirius' dot hadn't been right beside Remus, but at the other side of the classroom. And that worried him, for what reason could Sirius have to remain unmoving, while knowing James would be watching the map for a signal.

From the other side Sirius suddenly approached him, the sight turning James' stomach and making his mind scream it was wrong and the figure moving towards him was not his brother.

But James shoved the wrong feeling away to investigate it later, relieved to see Peter hurrying up when he saw him.

"Any trouble?"

"N-no," Peter shook his head.

"Good. Their dots haven't been moving for almost an hour now, so I don't know what to expect," James informed Peter as they hurried back to the hallway, thankful most of the castle seemed to be deserted.

Undoing the wards on both sides of the door took a few moments and James only just managed to force himself to listen for any sign of growling in his worry, aware Sirius still hadn't given him a sign.

Too worried to wait longer than a few seconds, he slipped inside and was immediately overcome by the stale stench of copper as there was blood splattered everywhere.

Clenching his teeth, it didn't take long to find Remus sprawled out unconscious on the floor.

His clothes were torn to shreds, although James determined that was probably due to the transformation as besides a layer of blood coating the side of the brown-haired boy's face, he didn't appear to be in a bad shape.

"Is he..."

"He's all right," James determined as he knelt down to feel Remus' pulse, finding it steady.

"Can you look after him?" James rose to his feet as Peter nodded and took his place, freeing him to take a sweep of the room.

"Sirius?"

Not really expecting an answer, James made his way towards the overturned cupboard at the far end of the room, realising the position fit with the picture the map had given him.

He used his wand to move the heavy cupboard aside, heart skipping a beat as he laid eyes on the sight behind it.

Sirius was covered in blood and James didn't waste time as he knelt down beside his brother, uncaring that his trousers and robes immediately got soaked in blood.

Checking his pulse, he let out a relieved breath as he found a slow but steady one and set to work to heal his injuries as he cast a diagnostic charm.

"J'mes."

Sirius' sudden voice as he was almost finished with the cuts made James' heart leap.

"Hey, Siri," he tried to give a smile as Sirius' eyes fluttered open, but dropped it again as the boy's eyes seemed unfocused. "Can you tell me where you are?"

"C-classroom...Rem?"

"Unconscious, but all right," James peeled the torn clothes further aside to look at the rest of his best friend's injuries.

"H-had to knock h-him out," Sirius' pain-filled voice stocked as he tried to move and James paused to retrieve a pain-relieving potion. "He w-wouldn't stop coming even after...d-did I hurt him?"

"I think he might have a headache when he wakes up, but he's in a better shape than you are," James informed his best friend as he helped him swallow it. "I'm going to have to pull your robes off to get a look at your skin properly," he warned Sirius and choked as the diagnostic charm told him the boy was bleeding internally.

No more than an hour and a half had passed in total, but from the discolouration already visible on the skin, James knew it was bad and immediately set to work to do as much as he could.

After Sirius had showed up in a bloody mess at his doorstep five months earlier, James had become determined to learn all he could as he never wanted to feel that helpless again.

But although he could cast most healing spells without trouble, he didn't have the same flare for the healing side of magic as Sirius did and had trouble learning the more advanced healing spells.

"We need the hospital wing, Siri," he whispered as he finished healing the organs rudimentary.

"No..."Sirius protested as he tried to sit up, looking stronger now that the potion and James' efforts were doing their work.

"I can't heal this properly and you're in no shape to do so yourself."

"They'll kill him," glancing back at Remus, James immediately knew Sirius was right.

Remus had transformed without the presence of the full moon and even if they could prove the strange liquid Snape had thrown at them that morning at breakfast was responsible, it wouldn't matter to the Ministry as they'd be out for his blood.

The entire thing may have lasted only for minutes, the damage Moony could have done in that time was immense, Sirius was evidence of that.

"How long was he transformed?" he asked as he tried to think of a solution that would get them help but hide the truth.

"It felt longer than it was, couldn't have been more than ten minutes."

"The eclipse lasted seven minutes," Peter piped up.

"So you've been bleeding for over an hour already..." James tried to calculate how much Sirius could have bled internally in that time, though it appeared to be slow going if he'd managed to come into awareness when he sensed James. "All right, hide your scars and the new identifiable marks under your rune."

"Plan?" Sirius did as he asked and sat up completely.

"Something that would require your help, but you'll start bleeding again if you move," James swallowed as Sirius only shot him a look.

Sirius closed his eyes and muttered something, presumable to determine the damage for himself. "I think I'll manage half an hour before I'll collapse so we better hurry up with this plan of yours."

Nodding, James reached for Sirius' ruined robes and fixed it in several places so they'd no longer look like an animal had tried to rip him apart and helped him back in them.

Helping Sirius over to Remus, he did the same for Remus' robes.

"Can you use wandless magic?" he pulled out the Marauder map to check the area, relieved to see it was still deserted and silently blessed the unusually cold day keeping most students in their dorms.

"What do you need?" Sirius was pale as a sheet as he checked Remus' condition for himself.

"This bridge here? I want to blow it up."

"Partly, it'll look like an assassination attempt. Remus hitting his head when I pushed him aside," Sirius immediately caught on to his plan.

"It'll fit with your injuries too, if the bridge collapsed with you on it your injuries make sense," James nodded. "You weren't fast enough to avoid the collision because your feet still aren't healed completely."

Tapping the map, he enlarged the bridge so a visual picture of it came up and Sirius studied the details for a moment.

"It'll be best to blow it up here at the right edge. It'll prevent too much damage to the castle, but enough that it might look like it's done on purpose."

"If you blow it up there, Remus would be injured worse, too," James said.

"No, see how those stones support the bridge to the castle? The structure of it means it'll collapse to the left even when we blow it up at the right side," Sirius argued as he pointed out what he meant.

"Leaving you enough time to push Remus away, who collided into us..."

"So neither you nor Peter were hurt either," Sirius finished with a nod.

"I hate it when you guys do that," Peter grumbled. "It's like you share a brain."

"We're brothers, it's what we do," James shrugged. "If you use wandless magic..."

"They can't trace the magic back to our wands. Your last spells are healing ones and mine are defensive ones, backing our story further up," Sirius swayed a little as he repaired the furniture in the classroom and the blood vanished.

"We need to hurry up; I don't know how much longer I'll last."

Sirius' warning was unnecessary when it became clear he couldn't support his own weight as James helped him up, wrapping an arm around his waist to balance him.

"Got it," opening the door, he led Sirius into the direction of the bridge, levitating Remus behind them and Peter trailing after them.

He'd chosen that bridge because although it was fairly far from the hospital wing, it was the closest to the classroom.

"From here it'll look like we've come from the bridge," James explained when Peter asked why they were going in the opposite direction.

"I'll transfer the spilled blood to the bridge and get some grit and dust in return as it's collapsing so it'll leave evidence of our story," Sirius' was breathing shallowly so James stopped as he deemed them close enough for it to work.

"Good thinking," making Sirius lean between him and the wall beside them, James scanned the bridge. "That pillar there?"

"Yeah, but let's keep it small enough that no one immediately comes investigating. We're too far away for you to have been able to dig me out, treat me as best you could and then make it all the way here already."

"Right," together they wandlessly sliced the pillar, letting it collapse with small enough noise that it would buy them time.

Mere moments later all four of them were covered in grit and dust, Sirius and James the worst.

"You dug me out while Peter helped Remus," Sirius explained as he reached out with a trembling hand to smear the dust out over James' face so it mixed with his sweat and formed tracks before his hand slipped down.

"James..."

"I got you," James reassured him as he moved closer, as even under the dirt, he could see Sirius was rapidly losing what little colour the walk had given him and pulled him into his arms as he collapsed moments later.

"Is he..."

"Unconscious and probably bleeding again, we need to hurry to the hospital wing. Can you control Remus?" James lifted Sirius into his arms bridal style, careful to not aggravate his injuries even more than they'd already done as he couldn't bear to just float him behind them like Remus.

Glancing at Remus, he set as quick a pace as he dared, because although he'd gathered that Sirius had been forced to knock him out harshly, his prolonged unconsciousness began to worry James.

It seemed to take ages before they came across someone, McGonagall' quick stride momentarily faltering as she caught sight of them, before she hurried their way.

"What happened?!" she took one glance at Sirius and Remus before she shot off a Patronus that James hoped would alert Madam Pomfrey they were coming.

"The bridge collapsed, I think it was done on purpose," James hurriedly informed her, not daring to stop as Sirius' breathing had become shallower on the walk.

"The...another one?" McGonagall didn't ask more questions, already aware of the occasional assassination attempt that happened. "Do you need me to take him?"

"No," James tightened his grip on Sirius' limp form, shifting him back into position as his head had slightly begun to slip from resting against his collarbone.

Without another word McGonagall led the way to the hospital wing, pushing the doors open.

"Rest him here, what are his injuries?" Madam Pomfrey inquired, aware they usually took care of their own injuries and that it had to be bad if they couldn't handle it themselves.

"He's bleeding internally, I healed his spleen and left lung but I don't think I got it all as he began bleeding again on the way here," James wasn't surprised that she had already begun to cast her own diagnostic spells even as he carefully laid Sirius down.

"What precisely happened?" James turned to see McGonagall had led Remus to the next bed and let him rest there.

"We were planning to return to our dorm because it was so cold outside when Sirius suddenly shoved Remus back and the bridge collapsed with him on it," James explained. "I tripped when Remus was knocked into me and wasn't able to stop him from hitting his head. Peter checked him while I began to dug Sirius out and tried to treat his wounds but realised it was too serious for me to deal with and came here."

"You should always come here if Sirius is the one who's injured," Pomfrey berated him. "Even if he's been teaching you all he's learning from me."

"You've taken Mister Black on as your apprentice?" McGonagall looked surprised.

"Not exactly. Sirius came to me three years ago with the request to teach him all I knew so he could take care of Remus after the full moon. Said I was drawing too much attention as I required Remus to return here several times a week after the full moon to check his wounds and if his closest friends would notice then eventually so would others."

"That makes sense," James wasn't sure why McGonagall sounded so surprised, surely she'd have realised by now that the Marauders took care of their own. "Why did you not inform me?"

"It was not an official arrangement, he'd just come here when we both had time to show him some things and let him read my medical books. But he already knew quite a bit when he came to me," Pomfrey explained as her wand kept making complicated patterns over Sirius. "He has no desire to become my apprentice, though I have thought about offering it more than once as he truly has a flair for it."

"I see. And Mister Black has been teaching you what he's learned?" McGonagall turned to James.

"All three of us. And we're learning from my mother as well," James admitted.

"Yes, Dorea would be a likely source to learn from," McGonagall nodded before she focused on Sirius again. "Did you see anyone near the bridge while you were there?"

"No."

James helped Pomfrey as she applied cream to the hideous bruises covering Sirius torso and back.

"Why isn't it working?"

"It just means the bruises are so severe that only the underlying tissue is healing. Magic can't heal everything, love. Now, why don't you help me bandage him up so he won't use his arm for a while?"

"Going to wrap his ribs as well?" James asked, knowing they'd be sore even if he'd healed them.

"Yes," Pomfrey smiled approvingly at his knowledge as they worked together to bandage Sirius up.

"How is he?" McGonagall asked when they were done.

"Lost quite a bit of blood and he'll be in discomfort for a while so I want him to take regular potions, but thanks to James' quick actions, he'll be all right. Now, if the two of you change him into a hospital gown, I'll have a proper look at Remus."

James nodded as he moved to do as she'd asked and McGonagall turned as Peter and he quickly dressed Sirius in a hospital gown and removed his ruined trousers.

When they were done, James pulled the blankets up to both cover and keep Sirius warm and sat down on the edge of the bed while Peter took the chair.

"He'll likely have a headache when he wakes, but he'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey determined as she cleaned the blood away from Remus' head and wrapped his head in a bandage.

"No concussion?" McGonagall eyed Remus' face in disbelief.

"No, despite the amount of blood it is only skin that's damaged. Remus has quite an unusual thick skull," Pomfrey explained.

"Dense bones are about the only good thing he got out of it," James grumbled. "But why hasn't he woken up yet?"

"It is quite normal to be unconscious after such a hard blow to the head, even if the damage isn't that bad. There is no damage to his brain or skull and you should know that head wounds always bleed more than you would think," Pomfrey assured him. "But I'd like to keep him overnight just in case so if you could change his clothes?"

"Of course," Peter nodded at James' questioningly glance and the two of them made quick work of changing Remus' clothes as well and have him settled.

"I will speak to Professor Dumbledore about what happened, he will likely wish to speak with both of them as well, but it will have to wait until they've been cleared by you, Poppy," McGonagall announced.

"It will have to be after tomorrow as they need their rest. I mean it, Minerva; I will refuse him access if he comes before I say he can."

"Very well, Mister Potter, Mister Pettigrew..."

"You should know better by now than to even entertain yourself by the idea I'm leaving his side," James cut their Head of House off.

McGonagall sighed. "I'll report to your teachers none of you will be in class tomorrow, except for you Mister Pettigrew."

"But..."

"Your grades are simply too low so you can't afford to miss classes in an O.W.L. year. Perhaps you could take notes for your friends, so they will not miss anything."

"Y-yes Professor," Peter nodded sullenly as McGonagall turned.

"Poppy, keep me posted and I will tell Albus what you've told me."

"I will," Madam Pomfrey bid her a good day as she fussed over both of her patients for a while longer before leaving them in James and Peter's care with the warning to get her if they woke up.

Peter shifted nervously, something James had noticed him doing since he'd return.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Y-yes. Just uncomfortable by what happened," Peter glanced at Sirius for a moment. "Do you want me to retrieve your books from the dorm so you'll have something to do tonight?"

"That would be nice, thanks," James shifted to make himself comfortable beside Sirius on the bed, readjusting his brother slightly so he was resting slightly sidewards against his legs and off his bruised back and shoulder.

Pulling the blanket up further to ensure for himself the other would be warm, he leaned back to keep an eye on them both.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Due to suddenly having to work tomorrow, I won't be able to post the second chapter on Tuesday as expected. So instead of posting it a day later, you guys are getting it a day early :P The last chapter will be posted next week's Tuesday again as is usual for me.

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A groan pulled James' attention from his book just in time to see Remus bring a hand up to his head.

"What?"

"Easy, you hit your head pretty hard. How are you feeling?" James carefully pushed the pillow in his back behind Sirius so he'd not roll over before he shifted from the bed and made his way to Remus.

"Like I've been hit by a bulldozer."

"What's a bulldozer?" James pulled the chair Peter had left hours ago more between the two beds and sat down.

"Something hard and painful to be hit with. What happened?" Remus didn't even attempt to sit up as he touched the bandage carefully.

"Leave it," James pushed his hand away. "What do you remember?"

"I remember playing with Wizzy while you were treating Sirius' feet and didn't we play a game of ludo?"

"That was yesterday, what do you remember of today?" James asked apprehensively, glancing back at Madam Pomfrey's office in case she'd notice Remus was awake.

"I..." James could see the brown-haired boy was racking his brain and as he was staring so intently at him he accidentally glimpsed into his friend's mind; seeing a big blur of nothing for that morning. "I don't know...I don't remember anything. What happened?"

"The bridge collapsed when we were about to cross it," Sirius' soft voice made them both turn, though Remus immediately winced as he did so.

"How...why would a bridge collapse?" Remus' expression turned pained as he clearly couldn't think properly and James' heart clenched as he realised what his best friend was doing.

"We suspect it was an assassination attempt, I reacted too late and could only push you out of the way. You hit your head pretty hard due to my unexpected shove," Sirius gasped as he tried to shift and James hurried over to him at the same time Madam Pomfrey came out of her office.

"Why haven't you warned me they were awake?" she berated him as she leaned over Sirius to check his injuries. "Remus, take the potion that is on your night-stand. It will help with the headache."

"What's wrong with him?" Remus ignored the potion to try and sit up as Sirius curled in on himself.

"He was already on the bridge when it collapsed and caught the brunt of it," James informed Remus as he stood aside to allow Pomfrey to check Sirius' injuries.

"Why can't I remember?"

"Probably the blow to your head," James lied, coming to the conclusion that it was most likely the shock of suddenly transforming that had blocked the event from his memory as Sirius couldn't have knocked him out so hard he'd lose his memory.

If Remus didn't remember what had happened, which he clearly didn't if his memory was any indication, there was no need for him to feel terrible about what he'd unintentionally done to Sirius.

Thought if he knew Sirius as well as he believed he did, the other was most likely thinking of how horrified Remus would be by what could have happened if Sirius hadn't acted as fast as he had.

The guy already had little to no self-esteem and blamed himself for any cut he made on his friends' bodies as Moony, this would devastate him.

His words made Sirius meet his eyes and immediately James knew he was right. Giving his best friend a tiny nod, he let him know he understood and agreed.

The small smile Sirius gave him was worth the slight guilt he felt at lying to Remus.

"Yes, it is possible not to remember something after a hard blow to the head. You remember everything else? Name, parents, their names and where you are?" Neither Madam Pomfrey nor Remus were aware of the silent conversation that had taken place between them.

"Remus John Lupin, parents' names are Hope and Lyall. Friends names are Sirius, James and Peter and you are Madam Poppy Pomfrey, matron of Hogwarts where I am a fifth year," Remus summed up.

"Date?"

"Tenth of May?"

"Close enough," she nodded satisfied as she handed Sirius several potions to swallow. "And you?"

"I remember what happened and I was conscious when James got to me," Sirius let her check his eyes and adjust the pillows behind him.

"Just humour me."

"Sirius Potter-Black, parents are Dorea and Charlus Potter, brother James, also in my fifth year, the date is the eleventh if it's not after midnight yet and I'm missing the fourth of our party."

"McGonagall forced Pete to return to our dorm because he can't afford to miss classes so close to our exams," James helpfully supplied him.

"Right, although the information is not entirely correct I suppose it is true for you. And it is indeed still the eleventh, barely," Madam Pomfrey fondly shook her head as she moved from Sirius to Remus to check on him. "You boys should rest so get to bed, James."

"I was in bed until Remus woke up," James complained.

"Then you better return to that bed," she rolled her eyes and retrieved two potions from the cupboard. "Take these so you'll be able to sleep properly tonight without being bothered by your injuries."

James slipped back into the bed with Sirius, moving carefully so he'd not hurt him and smiled as Sirius curled up against him when he was comfortable again.

Accepting the potion from Madam Pomfrey, he helped Sirius take it before letting him settle back against his side comfortably.

"Take it, we'll talk more in the morning," he indicating to Remus that he should take it.

Both boys were back under mere moments after taking the potions and Madam Pomfrey watched James amused.

"I more meant you'd return to a bed of your own."

"I'm fine here, being close to him like this helps settle me," James admitted. "And knowing Remus is right at the other side allows me to be alerted immediately if something is up with either of them."

"Very well, just make sure you get some rest. If you need something to help you sleep, I'll be in my chambers."

"I know, thank you," bidding her a good night, he watched as she left before pulling his glasses off.

He didn't dare to wrap an arm around his brother as his entire back was covered in bruises so he settled for tucking him in against his side and taking his hand before he let himself drift off to sleep as well.

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James turned as the door opened and Peter stepped into the dorm, looking shifty.

"Pete?"

"I...uh..."

"Get on with it, Peter. My nerves are already fried by the knowledge Sirius is down there with Remus alone tonight."

He had protested wholeheartedly when Sirius had first told him he'd be spending the full moon alone with Remus, not only because his best friend was still healing from the events that had happened two weeks ago, but also because they were aware Moony might transform twice that night and it would make him violent.

He hadn't seen Sirius all day and although the boy had sent him several messages to let him know they were fine and Remus was just annoyed, not violent yet, it hadn't done anything to ease his worry.

"I- I think I might have done something stupid," the nervous mousy-haired boy admitted as he shifted nervously.

James' eyes narrowed and Peter tensed.

"You remember w-when Remus transformed and I...uh...used Polyjuice to become Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"I—uh, I ran into Snape."

"What did you do?"

"He was taunting me...well, Sirius and I know you said not to speak to anyone b-but I- I answered him. He was saying he knew what Remus was and that h-he'd expose him and...and," Peter stuttered.

"Spill it, Peter. What did you do?!" James got to his feet, a sense of foreboding coming to him.

"I told him how to get to the Shrieking Shack on a full moon," Peter squeaked. "I didn't mean to, it just slipped!"

"You did what?!" not giving Peter time to stutter more, James brushed passed him.

If that slimy git knew how to get to Remus, he would most likely go just before the full moon rose and Remus transformed. It was when he was on his most vulnerable and James knew Sirius wouldn't be fit enough to protect Snape should he indeed be so stupid as to go investigate.

Dashing down the stairs he ignored the Fat Lady and Peter calling after him and hurried out of the Common Room and down the stairs towards the closest exit, not caring if anyone might see him.

"Mister Potter?!" McGonagall's voice called out to him as he rushed past her.

He was aware she was coming after him, but he didn't dare stop, fearing that if he was right, any delay could be fatal.

It would likely cause trouble should she realise what had happened, but he'd worry about the consequences later.

He rushed out of the castle, heart clenching as the Whomping Willow came into view and was frozen, aware he'd been right.

He wasted no time in entering the tunnel, hoping he'd not be too late. He knew he couldn't transform in the tunnel and spit out a spell to enlarge the tunnel so he'd not lose any time by having to go slow.

He was nearing the end of the tunnel when he saw the silhouette of a human at the same time he heard a familiar growl that told him Remus had just transformed and dashed forward to yank Snape back as a dark shadow became visible at the hatch.

He threw Snape behind him at the same time Padfoot's familiar shape became clearly visible as he crashed into the dark shadow; the hatch was slammed shut and he tried not to react even through the thick wood he could hear Moony's vicious growls, knowing Sirius was being hurt trying to protect them.

"The hell were you thinking!" James turned to Snape, heart missing a beat as he instead caught sight of McGonagall arriving behind him.

"Potter, what could you possibly be..." McGonagall's eyes widened as she stared at Snape sprawled out on the ground, terrified and with his wand still drawn.

"The both of you are coming with me and you are going to tell me exactly what the in Merlin's name is going on here before I decide if you will both be expelled!" McGonagall spat out, grabbing Snape by the arm and pulling him up before raising her wand defensively as the sound of digging and growling sounded through the hatch. "Walk!"

Not daring to argue, James let McGonagall force him and Snape back through the tunnel, though the slimy git seemed shell-shocked, walking mutely with her as she pushed them forward to the castle and up to Dumbledore's office.

"You are both to sit there and remain there until Dumbledore comes up. I don't know how long it might be as he's dealing with other things, but I don't want you to move or hear a word from you in that time!" she barked out as she took their wands from them and pushed them into two of the chairs.

James nodded mutely, only hoping Peter would warn Sirius about what had happened and come clean.

He had no idea how long he sat there, but he knew it had been hours as it already began to get light before Dumbledore arrived.

In all that time McGonagall hadn't moved a muscle, working on some papers and James couldn't help but fear for what would happen.

"Minerva, what..."

"Albus, I was walking my rounds when Mister Potter dashed past me. As he ignored my call and it was close to curfew, I followed him. Only to find him entering the tunnel under the Whomping Willow in a hurry, so naturally I followed him, completely horrified he should take such a risk," McGonagall's nose flares rose as she spat the words out and James shrunk a little in his seat.

"And Mister Snape?" Dumbledore' eyebrow rose.

"He was already in the tunnel and I witnessed Potter pulling him back as he was about to enter the hatch to the Shrieking Shack with his wand drawn. Potter slammed the hatch shut before the wolf could get to him."

Snape flinched at the word, still as pale as a sheet, though James couldn't find any compassion in him as he remembered the sight of that wand and the realisation of what Snape was planning. He was thankful that McGonagall apparently hadn't seen Padfoot, or had perhaps thought it was Moony she was seeing and he briefly wondered if she even knew what the wolf looked like.

"With his...what were you doing there, Mister Snape?" There was no friendliness in Dumbledore's voice as he sat down at his desk and Snape tensed.

"Black tried to kill me," he spat out. "I only had my wand drawn because I saw that monster."

"That's a lie!" James burst out, unable to keep silent at such a lie.

"Silence Mister Potter, we will hear your side of the story in a moment. How did Black try to kill you?"

"I- I just wanted to know where Lupin went every month and Black said that if I wanted to know so badly I should touch the trunk of the Whomping Willow and follow the tunnel."

James seethed at the lie, aware he didn't know exactly what Peter had told Snape while Polyjuiced as Sirius but aware enough to know Snape had gone in there knowing exactly what he'd find.

It also put him in a difficult position, if he told the truth, what had happened a month ago would come out and that would put Remus in danger. But if he didn't tell the truth, Sirius would be taking the fall for something Peter had done.

"I see...and did you know what you would find there?" Dumbledore's voice was sharp.

"No, Professor."

"And what is Mister Potter's role in this?"

"I learned about what was said tonight and went after Snape to stop him from being killed or harming the wolf. He knew what he'd find there before he'd been told how to get in," James settled on.

"Very well. Minerva, please get Mister Black from his dorm and bring him here."

"Immediately," McGonagall left and James' heart clenched as there was no way Sirius could have made it back to his dorm yet and he had no idea in what kind of shape the other would be.

It only took McGonagall ten minutes to return with Sirius in tow and James swallowed thickly as the other's expression was unreadable as he was told to sit down.

"Do you know what you are doing here, Mister Black?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not entirely," Sirius admitted and James took the moment to glance at his friend covertly. There was no sign of any injury on his friend, though James knew that meant nothing as that rune could hide a lot of injuries if Sirius wished it to do so and his pain tolerance was so high he'd not necessarily know unless his friend told him himself.

"Mister Snape here tells us that you told him how to enter the Whomping Willow if he wanted to know so badly where Mister Lupin went every month."

"I...that is true. Snape was provoking me and telling me he'd find out where the filthy half-breed was hiding so he could kill him and in a fit of anger I regrettably told him that if he wanted to meet a fully grown werewolf so badly, he should hit the trunk of the Whomping Willow and enter the tunnel and be killed by one. When I realised he'd be stupid enough to actually go through with it, I warned James of what had happened and he went after the greasy git."

James' hands clenched in his lap as deep inside, he'd known Sirius would choose to keep the truth hidden to protect Remus, even at the cost to himself.

But his words also told him Sirius had already spoken to Peter as his information was too detailed to be guessing work.

"That's a lie," Snape sneered. "I had no idea what I'd be facing."

"Enough bickering," Dumbledore's voice raised even though Sirius had made no indication of going in on Snape's words.

"Mister Potter, you are free to go. I wish to speak with Mister Snape and Mister Black alone. Minerva, would you be so kind as to escort Mister Potter to his dorm so he can get some rest before classes start and retrieve Mister Lupin? He should be at the hospital wing by now."

"Of course," McGonagall's hand on his back forced James to move before he could make eye contact with Sirius and he had no choice but to let himself be guided downstairs.

"I can make it from here," he clenched his teeth as McGonagall attempted to move him further.

"Very well, just be aware it can take a while. And that if you are going to yell you should do so in the privacy of your dorm."

James only nodded, aware his Head of House thought he was going to be yelling at Sirius and he supposed he couldn't blame her for thinking that after what had happened.

But although he had every intention to yell, it wasn't at Sirius and clenched his hands into fists when Snape left the office several minutes later. The greasy git only gave him a smug sneer before he left, but James didn't bother to let himself be riled up by the snake as McGonagall and Remus arrived from the other side.

Remus was pale as a sheet but didn't speak to James as McGonagall led him up to the office and James' heart hammered in his throat as he leaned back against the wall.

It was several more minutes before Sirius came down, hurried and pale and James pushed himself from the wall as he saw him coming.

"Sirius..."

"Don't..." Sirius choked out and James stepped back as his best friend suddenly turned to him, eyes bright. "Don't you dare tell Remus the truth, no matter what."

"I won't, it would destroy what little self-worth he's gained and endanger us all," James swallowed. "But I don't like that you're bearing the consequences for what Peter did."

"When did he tell you?" Sirius turned on his heels and began to hurry down the hallway, James at his heels.

"Just before the moon came up last night, I went after Snape immediately but couldn't prevent McGonagall from following us. He was there to try and kill Remus, wasn't he?"

"He denied any knowledge of what he'd face and said I set him up for murder," Sirius spat out.

"And Dumbledore believed him?" James wasn't sure why he was so surprised that the git had managed to weasel his way out of any punishment as usual or that Dumbledore had believed his word over theirs. "What are the consequences?"

"I'm banned from Hogsmeade for the rest of my years here, never allowed to visit Quidditch matches any more and I'm to serve detention twice a week for the rest of term and possibly on to next year. He wasn't sure about that yet but no points were taken to prevent the others from realising what happened."

"Merlin...and Snape?" the punishment Sirius had to face was harsh and it angered James that Sirius was taking the fall for something he'd not even done.

"Dumbledore placed a Tongue-Tying Curse upon him so he cannot reveal Remus' secret to anyone."

"That's it?" James growled, following Sirius up to their tower.

"Alea iacta est," Sirius gave the Fat Lady the password and climbed through the entrance. "What did you expect?"

Peter was waiting for them in the common room, rising as Sirius brushed past him. "Sirius..."

"Don't talk to me," Sirius growled as he hurried up the steps to their dorm and James paused.

"We'll be having words later, Sirius it taking the fall for what you've done to protect Remus so you keep your mouth shut, understood?"

"Y-yes...I'm sorry, James," Peter stuttered.

"I'm not the one you should say that to," James bit out as he turned away from the rat Animagus to see Sirius rush down the stairs again with his bag. "Where are you going?"

"Away from here for now," Sirius answered him shortly, but James refused to be cut off that easily and followed him.

"Sirius, talk to me."

"Remus said he didn't want to see me, he was so mad James...and who can blame him after what happened," Sirius choked out without turning back.

"He...wait...what? Are you leaving the dorm?" James grabbed Sirius' arm but immediately let go again as the other gasped. "You're hurt."

"I'll be fine..." Sirius tried to brush him off.

"I'll be the judge of that, where are we going?"

"Room of Requirement, it'll give me a place to stay for a while," Sirius finally sighed and slowed, allowing James to see he was limping rather heavily.

"You're going to let me check your wounds there and then we'll decide on what we'll do."

"No need to decide anything. You're going to be mad with me and ignore me for as long as Remus wants you to be," Sirius cut off his protests. "No, James. He'll need you after this, much more than I do."

"That's a lie," James choked out, irritated by his brother's own lack of self-worth when he really needed some. "You're as much a victim in this as he is and he won't even know...I know we can't tell him the truth, but you don't deserve this."

"We can't always get what we deserve. This is what we've been dealt and chosen to do and now we'll have to live with that," Sirius paced back and forth three times and a door appeared to allow them entrance.

"It's not fair," James muttered as he closed the door behind him.

"I've learned early on that life isn't very fair," Sirius tossed his bag onto the table and James moved to it to pull out the potions kit, trying to ignore the pile of clothes and school books Sirius had tossed in there.

"Let me see your injuries," he ordered but Sirius shook his head.

"Only if you promise you'll keep your distance from me and follow Remus' lead."

"I'm not going to ignore you, not even in pretend! Even if you've done this, it would have been an accident!" James bit out.

"Doesn't matter if it has been done accidentally or not, as long as Remus is mad, you stay away from me. I mean it, James."

James bristled as determined grey eyes stared him down.

"And how are you going to follow classes if you're staying out of his way?"

"I know his time table; I just won't follow classes he does as well."

"You've already thought it all out, haven't you?" James deflated from his anger at the unfairness of it all.

"Only that part. Remus was very clear, he didn't want to see me so the least I can do is stay out of his way for the time being."

"Fine, but I'm taking notes for you in those classes and even if you don't want me to come near you in public, I am not going to ignore you. You're my brother and I refuse to act like you're not. If you're going to stay here I'll bring you food and clean clothes, keep you company..."

"No," Sirius cut him off. "I'm fine with the note taking and stuff bringing, but I don't want you at my side. I've chosen to bear these consequences of Peter's actions. I...I don't trust Peter, even if it was an accident that he told Snape, he should have told us immediately after it happened. The fact that he kept it hidden...I can't trust Peter, not now and I need you to look after Remus because we both know he won't look after himself."

James opened his mouth to protest but eventually nodded his consent as he knew Sirius was right.

"For now...I'll keep my distance. But the moment I think it goes on too long, I'll put an end to it. Now let me see those injuries."

He waited impatiently until Sirius had stripped down, taking a deep breath as a tangle of new bruises and cuts were revealed to him.

"Any internal bleeding?"

"No, I think the hip is broken, though. It hurts to put weight on my left leg and it feels funny."

"Yet you've been walking around on it," James sighed.

"I didn't have much choice, couldn't exactly let McGonagall know I was injured or she would have wanted to know how it happened," Sirius bit back a pained grimace as James felt around the area while casting a diagnostic charm.

"It's broken in two places and you've damaged seven muscles," James announced as he healed the damage, biting his lip as Sirius choked out a pained breath as the bone realigned itself in place, not sure how the other had managed to walk around the way he had with such an injury despite his high pain tolerance.

"Sorry. It will probably bruise badly despite the cream," he carefully applied the cream to all the visible bruises. "But it might help. You saved our lives."

"Yeah well...I couldn't let Moony bite him, who knows what kind of diseases the greasy git carries and would infect our friend with?"

They both choked out a laugh, and as James pulled Sirius close to him, the other suddenly began to shake with sobs as he broke down.

"I don't know if I can do this," Sirius admitted against his shoulder as James held him tightly.

"We'll get through this, I'll talk to Remus and I'm not going to leave you alone," James wasn't sure when their roles had suddenly become reversed, but knew he had to be the strong one now as it finally seemed to sink in for his brother just what he'd taken on his shoulders.

"When did we become liars, James? I thought we'd agreed we'd never lie, never deceive one another and now we've done it twice," Sirius angrily tried to brush away his tears, but new ones kept forming.

"We're protecting someone we love from harm and I solemnly swear right here and now it won't remain a secret forever. When we've graduated and are steady in life, we'll tell him the truth about everything," James squeezed Sirius' hand. "Until then you are right and we'll have to live with what we've decided upon. You, me and Peter."

"Even after I kept apologising and explained what had supposedly happened Remus told me he hated me and never wanted to see me again," Sirius' voice was so small that James pulled him close again.

"I won't let that happen," James swore as he pressed a kiss to Sirius' forehead. "You hear me?"

A small nod was his only answer, though James didn't relinquish his hold for a good while.

"You should go to breakfast or you'll be late for class," Sirius eventually composed himself and pulled away from him.

"Will you be all right?" James didn't ask if the dark-haired boy would go to class as he didn't think the other would be able to sit even remotely comfortable for a good few hours at least, even with the pain relieving potion he'd just swallowed.

"Yeah...I'll have to be. I think I'll get some rest, think you could take notes for me today?"

"I'll come by between classes with some provisions so you don't have to leave the room at all today, but please stay in contact through our mirrors so I know you're all right."

"I will. I'm sorry for putting you into this position."

"We're both responsible for that," James squeezed his hand and pulled him into a hug once more before stepping back to help him dress into the pyjama's he pulled from Sirius' bag.

Helping him into the bed that had appeared, he tucked Sirius in and handed him a Dreamless Sleep potion. "Please take it; you need rest to help you heal."

Tiredly Sirius nodded, not putting up a fight as he allowed James to feed him the potion and after he'd drifted off to sleep James took a deep breath, loathing that he had to leave him like this but in the end he left a note for Sirius to remind him he'd be back later with food and that he had his mirror with him.

A last glance back at the small figure in the large bed before he left made James vow to do all he could to put this right again, no matter what.


	3. Chapter 3

It only took Pandora one single glance at James' miserable face as she entered the Great Hall, to know Sirius was once again not present for mealtime.

Turning on her heels, she bristled in anger as she made her way to the kitchen, aware now would be the perfect time to get food unnoticed and she was right as Sirius looked up startled as she barged into the kitchen unannounced.

"Pandora?"

"I don't know precisely what happened, but I do know you didn't do it and I refuse to let you hide any longer," she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at him expectantly, not faltering when he sighed and ignored her to accept the packed beef from the house-elf beside him with a thankful nod.

"I did..."

"No, you are covering for someone else," she cut him off as she was more than sure of that, nothing of the rumours she'd heard made sense to her as she knew the boy sitting before her better than that.

"Look, I made a mistake," he put the beef into his bag and she could see there was more food in there, making her realise he was clearly preparing for a period in exile and she wondered if not showing up at mealtimes wasn't the only way in which he was avoiding his friends.

As he was facing her, he didn't see three house-elves adding several small wrapped packages of food into his bag, shooting her nervous glances but she acted like she didn't see what they were doing and kept her attention on him.

"Maybe with something else, but this so called prank is not of your doing," forcing herself to keep on the subject, she made a mental note to ask him about the bag later.

"Actually, it is."

"Don't lie to me, Siri. I don't need to know the whole truth as I realise that if you are covering for someone, you do so with good reason, but don't lie to me. We both know you're taking the fall for someone else here and so does James."

"What?"

"Remus might be mad at you, but James isn't. It is true that he's been keeping his distance for six days now, but it is clearly not of his choosing. Which makes me believe you've told him to do so and as a result you are both hurting."

"So did what happened, I hurt Remus."

"Yeah? Then look me straight in the eyes and tell me you endangered him in any way," her heart clenched as Sirius looked up to her without hesitation, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"Don't bother. I know you'd lie to me without hesitation if you thought it would protect your friends," she sighed as she cut him off before he could tell his lie, having seen his innocence clearly in his eyes.

"Pan..."

"You love your friends, Siri. If you even remotely think a prank might harm anyone, you break it off. You aim to make people laugh, not hurt them," she paused. "Snape doesn't count; he's a slimy git who targets you guys far worse than you ever do him. And even though Snape was involved and you hate him, you'd still not have let any real harm come to him, not knowingly."

"I would," Sirius argued, finally noticing what the house-elves were doing as they were still steadily adding food to his bag and stopping them with a tiny shake of his head.

"Siri needs to eat well, we's thinks he grows too thin," the little house elf in charge squeaked and Pandora had to bite her lip as the tiny thing carefully pulled Sirius' bag back towards her and added what she was holding; a large piece of what Pandora assumed was wrapped up cake.

It spoke of her friend's bond with the little creatures that they spoke to him so familiar and at ease, no sign of nervousness or the usual grovelling behaviour she'd become used to seeing in the elves as they came closer with all types of food Pandora knew Sirius liked.

"I don't think I'd get a chance to lose any weight with how well you guys always take care of me, Tiffy," Sirius fondly shook his head and relinquished his hold on his bag so the widely smiling elf could fill it as she pleased.

Cheerfully the house-elves began adding food to it again, pulling the bag with them as if they expected Sirius to try and take it from them again.

"You know that isn't true, right?" Pandora called his attention back to her. "About letting harm come to the greasy git. You might target him with harsher and more humiliating pranks in retaliation for what he does, but you never go too far."

"I was in a temper."

Pandora couldn't stop the snort from escaping. "You don't lose your temper, not in anger and you certainly never reveal anything you don't want to."

"I do..."

"Like hell you do, they tried to tortured you and James into releasing that shield two years ago; right in front of us and you kept it together, not giving them what they wanted even though everyone expected you to."

"Pan..."

"Don't Pan me, this situation is hurting all of you. And all because you're protecting someone."

"Remus needs time to come to terms with what I've done," Sirius looked away from her to retrieve a water bottle from the elf he had called Tiffy, sighing as the elf stared at him expectantly.

"Honestly, you are almost as bad as James is," Sirius took a large sip from the bottle, to the little elf's satisfaction.

"Tiffy thinks that is a compliment. Jamsie very good for Siri."

Pandora raised an eyebrow, momentarily distracted as Sirius and Tiffy shared a warm smile.

She had always been aware Sirius was on friendly terms with most of the castle residents, if not all, but she had never been privileged to see just how close they were and she felt honoured to see the house-elves act the way they were now.

"Okay, I'll accept that Remus needs time to come to terms with the supposed truth, but that doesn't mean you have to hide," she forced herself on track again.

"He said he didn't want to see me," Sirius calmly said as he finally retrieved the bag and closed it, but Pandora could see right through his indifferent behaviour and see just how much the situation hurt him.

"Why are you taking a bag full of food with you?"

"So I don't have to sneak into the kitchen tomorrow and call attention to myself more than I have to."

"Yeah, about that...it's ridiculous that you are not coming to mealtimes."

"I told you, Remus doesn't want to see me," Sirius shrunk the bag and gingerly slipped it into his pocket, the movement clearly paining him and Pandora wondered if he'd hurt himself somehow.

"That's rubbish, how does he handle things when you're all in your common room or dorm? Please tell me you aren't avoiding the tower altogether!" Pandora growled as Sirius shrugged. "Then where have you been staying?"

"Some place safe. Look, just leave it. I hurt him," he repeated. "The least I can do is stay out of his way as he deals with it."

"This separation is hurting him too; I can tell he's missing you. As is James."

"Don't, Pan," there was a new edge in Sirius' voice that told her he would not change his mind and she sighed, admitting defeat.

"All right, this thing going on is between the four of you. I'll stay out of it, but you are coming with me to the Great Hall."

"I can't..."

"You can and you will. No matter how mad Remus might be, he's got no right to banish you like this."

"He didn't, just said he didn't want to see me so I chose to stay out of his way."

"That ends today. I can't control where you sleep, but I refuse to let you hide away like a criminal to be shunned. We're having dinner at the Ravenclaw table," Pandora didn't think she could convince him to eat at his own table, not while actively trying to avoid Remus, but she could get him to her own.

"We are not supposed to eat at another House table," Sirius pointed out.

"Have we ever cared about that?" holding out her hand, she beckoned him to rise to his feet.

"Pan..."

"Don't make me drag you there and you know I will do so," she threatened as a plan formed in her head.

If he was so hell-bent on hiding the truth, she would respect his wishes. But she could at least make sure he ate properly and if she was not mistaken, maybe even able to end this disaster.

After all, she thought as Sirius finally accepted her hand, James hasn't been the one to look up hopeful when she had entered the Great Hall and then resigned when realising it was just her.

She might just have promised not to interfere, but that did not mean she couldn't nudge things along a little.

Xxxxxx

Taking a deep breath, Remus quickened his step to catch up with Sirius and Pandora as they left the Great Hall. "Could we talk for a moment?"

Pandora gave him a knowing look as Sirius turned to him surprised, not that Remus could blame him as it had been days since he'd last spoken to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we can go over your defence essay then," Sirius nodded.

"Thank you," Pandora reached out to squeeze his hand with a smile, met Remus' eyes boldly for a moment and left in the other direction.

The gesture left a pang in his chest, realising she had already known the whole situation was a stupid mistake and had given Remus the opportunity to make it right again.

In his heart he knew Sirius would never do anything to hurt or endanger him on purpose, but Remus had been so mad when he found out about it that he hadn't thought about it clearly and had lashed out, pushing Sirius away.

And if he hadn't been hiding within range of the Muffliato Charm when Sirius had cornered Snape the day before, he likely would have remained angry for much longer before finally seeing sense.

It had never crossed his mind that Snape had known exactly what he'd be facing when he opened the secret passageway and travelled through to confront him, despite knowing that.

But Sirius clearly had as he'd cursed him down, threatening him that he would make him pay if he should ever raise a finger into his friend's direction or endanger his life like that again.

Even after all of Remus' angry words; words aimed to hurt, the other was still trying to protect him and that had driven home to him just how much Sirius had done to protect him and keep him safe over the years.

He'd even kept the secret from James, despite him being his best friend, because he believed it wasn't his secret to tell.

So he should have known Sirius would never reveal his secret to a known enemy on purpose and had to have been provoked far enough that he'd let something slip without meaning to.

And Snape had known what he'd be facing when he went to the Shrieking Shack, which had become obvious by that little confrontation; Sirius hadn't actually revealed his secret, just like Sirius had tried to tell him that night but he had not wanted to hear.

From what he'd overheard, Snape himself had revealed that Sirius had only told him how to find him, he had taunted him with how easily their friendship had been broken by that.

But Sirius hadn't risen to the bait, only called him an idiot and a moron for being stupid enough to seek out Remus out when he knew what he'd find.

Yet, he had warned James immediately of what had happened, just in case, as he'd be spending the full moon with Remus alone, aware it would be a difficult one due to the blue moon.

Looking at his best friend now as he watched Pandora retreat, he realised he should never have let it get to the point where his friend would ever stand across of him stiffly.

The two of them had never been awkward around each other, not even during the time James had been trying to introduce an inexperienced Sirius to friendly affection and the other had bumblingly made his attempts to put those lessons to practice.

"Let's talk somewhere private," turning at Sirius' nod, he lead them to an unused classroom and closed the door behind them, taking note of the small limp in the other's walk as he magically locked the door.

Sirius pulled himself up onto the table, at a clear distance from him, clearly waiting for him to speak as he cast the Muffliato Charm to ensure their privacy.

"What happened...you broke my trust, hurt me. I thought I could trust you, that you would keep my secret," Remus sat down across of him and sighed. "But I hurt you, too."

Sirius stared at him with an unreadable expression and that hurt more than anything that had happened, to know Sirius had pulled away from him, shielding himself from him to see.

"I didn't mean what I said, but I was just so angry."

"Why are you apologising?" It were the first words Sirius had spoken to him directly in six days and the flatness of his tone made Remus swallow as it didn't betray anything of how the other felt.

"I overheard you and Snape and it made me realise that I failed to think things through or listen to what you tried to tell me. I- I know you would never do something like that, not on purpose. And James told me you warned him immediately after it had happened...but why did you not tell me?"

Sirius was quiet for a long moment before he huffed. "Tell you that in an unguarded moment of anger I'd betrayed you by telling someone where to find you on your most vulnerable? Yeah, I can see how well that would have gone just before the full moon."

"Would have been better than hiding it," Remus rubbed a hand over his face.

"I told James immediately after it happened," Sirius shifted uncomfortably, leaning to the side a little. "But I didn't tell you and I am sorry for that and for what happened."

"I know and I'm sorry, too," looking up to his friend, Remus sighed. "The last few days have been weird...unreal even," Remus admitted. "Where have you been staying? Because I know you haven't returned to our dorm since."

"Does it matter where I was?"

"It does to me," knowing he'd deserved the harsh tone, Remus tried to keep his own even.

"Why? You're the one who told me you didn't want to see me; I've just been following your wishes and stayed out of your way as much as I could."

"I would have never thrown you out of our dorm...no matter how angry I was. Is that why you've only been to classes where you knew I wouldn't be? And haven't been at mealtimes until today?"

"Pandora forced me to come," Sirius admitted. "Almost dragged me when I objected. Girl's got a mean side to her you'd not expect in one so petite."

"I'm glad she did. If she hadn't, I don't know when I'd have been able to track you down. I know James has been taking notes for you and brought you clothes, but I haven't seen you more than a few seconds at a time and I didn't dare ask him where you had gone."

"I told him to stay away, but you know James, he refuses to listen when he's got his mind set to something," the irritation on Sirius' face brought a small smile to Remus' lips.

"Stubborn as a bull," Remus agreed. "I'm glad he's been looking after you."

"He's supposed to be mad with me and ignore me, just like you were," Sirius sighed.

"I should never have ignored you the way I did, even if I was angry. How...how are your injuries? I know I hurt you when you stopped me from going after James and Snape."

"They're fine, James treated them after I left Dumbledore's office," though from the way Sirius kept gingerly moving, Remus knew they weren't fully healed yet, even six days later.

"Do you want me to take a look at them?"

"What do you want from me, Remus? Why am I here?"

"Because I don't want to be fighting any more."

"We're not fighting; that would require two parties arguing, which is not true in this case. I made a horrible mistake and am now dealing with the consequences," there was something in Sirius' tone that made him feel there was more to it than the dark-haired boy was saying, but he didn't dare ask when there was this distance between them.

"By pulling yourself away?"

"If that is what you need, then yes," came the simple answer and Remus sighed.

"What if I don't want you to stay away?"

"I think it's become very clear that you can't trust me and I don't know about you, but I don't usually want people I don't trust near me."

"I do trust you and I know something like this will never happen again..."

"I'll make sure of that," Sirius bit out harshly, to Remus' confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Sirius waved him off as he slid down the desk to lean against it instead, clearly unable to get comfortable.

"Please, Sirius...I can see you're in pain," Remus slid down from his own desk, tensing as Sirius shifted away from him.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not," running a hand through his hair frustrated, he sighed as he stepped further forward. "Damn it, Sirius...you're my friend."

"And you're mine," Sirius looked at the hand Remus had automatically placed on his, shifting as if to move out of his reach again.

But Remus wouldn't have any of that any longer and tightened his hold. "I won't let things stay like this any longer. I hate this distance between us, that you're pulling away and I'm letting you. You made a mistake, we both did and we both clearly regret it..."

"So where does that leave us now?"

It was only then that Remus realised there were tears in Sirius' eyes, tear streaks visible on his cheeks and without thinking Remus reached out to pull his friend into his arms, heart breaking when the other tensed at the contact as if he expected to be hurt.

"I'm sorry. I knew it had all been a mistake and you would never intentionally hurt me," he whispered, tears welling up in his own eyes as well now as Sirius' breathing hitched. Because although deep in his heart, Remus had always known Sirius would never intentionally hurt him, he himself had done so. Choosing his words with that exact intent and had hurt his dearest friend with them where he could. "I should have known you would punish yourself much more severely than I ever would and I'm sorry I let it get this far."

"I'm sorry for what happened," Sirius choked out as he finally relaxed in Remus' embrace and wrapped his arms around him in return as he seemed to realise Remus wasn't going to lash out all of a sudden.

"You're coming with me back to our dorm and you're staying there and we'll get through this, together. Because that's what family does," Remus eventually pulled back enough to lift the tag on Sirius' collar. "We're family and I'm not letting this destroy that. But no more lies or secrets..."

"Rem..." the clear hesitation in Sirius' voice made him frown.

"Siri? Is there something else?" lifting his friend's face up so he'd look at him, he could see Sirius' red trimmed grey eyes were torn in indecision before he shook his head.

"N-no...I...I'm not sure I should come back to the dorm so soon."

It was clearly not what was bothering him, but Remus didn't think he was in the right place to call him on it right now, perhaps later.

"You're mad if you think I'm letting you stay elsewhere for a moment longer. You're coming back to where you belong, as a matter of fact, we're getting your stuff the moment we've composed ourselves and then I'm going to berate James for not dragging you back sooner."

"He tried to get me to return repeatedly," Sirius admitted.

"Yeah, he should have just forced you. Peter's been in a real state since it all happened so you might have to excuse him if he's even more nervous than normal," Remus frowned when Sirius' expression tightened.

"Did something happen between you and Peter?"

"Yes, there was an issue between us, but it's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"James has been fairly cross with Pete too..." Remus hinted, though he already knew Sirius wouldn't tell him more and was not let down by his friend's guilty words.

"That's not for me to say."

"All right, I'll let you two handle that. So, where have you been staying?"

"The Room of Requirement. But I have all my stuff with me, didn't dare leave them behind in there as I don't know who else knows about the room."

"Good, then we'll just make our way back to our dorm after I've had a look at your injuries."

"I told you, they are fine. James took care of them."

"Clearly not well enough as you're still limping and clearly sore."

"I ran into a couple of Slytherins the day before yesterday. Didn't take too much trouble to fight them off, but they did get some hexes in return," Sirius admitted quietly.

"I'm willing to bet James doesn't know about those or I'd have heard about some Slytherins being admitted to the hospital wing," the downward gaze was more than enough to tell Remus he was right and he tugged on Sirius' robes. "Are you going to pull them off, or am I going to have to wrestle you out of them?"

It still took a raised eyebrow and tapping his foot impatiently for Sirius to gingerly pull off his robe and under-shirt, revealing several light marks that were familiar to Remus.

"Turn the rune off," he ordered as he couldn't see anything that would explain his friend's discomfort among the faint scars.

"That really isn't..." not letting Sirius finished, Remus picked up his hand and deactivated the rune himself, eyes widening as he took in the multiple bruises now littering the skin, altering between yellow-brown and deep bluish-purple.

"You look like you've been mauled!" Remus reached out to touch a particularly large bruise on Sirius' side, pausing just above it as his eyes caught the true extent of mostly healed wounds covering his best friend's pale skin, forcing himself to focus on the discolouration and ignore the other injuries for now. "Are those all made by that bridge collapsing on you?"

"Most," Sirius shifted uncomfortable as Remus' fingers ghosted over his skin to assess the bruises.

"Sorry, and the cuts are from the last full moon? Did I do this to you?" Remus eventually asked as he finally focused on the healed cuts and abrasions.

They had all clearly been treated with Dittany, but were still very much present on Sirius' body and Remus wondered just how bad they had been before James had taken care of them.

"Moony was a little more aggressive than normal," Sirius shifted again as he clearly read Remus' self-loathing on his face and reached out to touch his biceps. "It's not your fault. I knew what I signed up for when I became an Animagus."

"To be used as a chewing toy, darn it Siri...I- I can't even imagine how much these hurt even now," he tried really hard to keep the disgust of what he'd done to his friend out of his voice, but knew he'd failed when the pressure on his arm tightened.

"Stop blaming yourself for something we willingly signed up for."

"At least tell me you've been taking pain-relieving potions...of course not. And James didn't force any upon you?" Remus sighed, unshrinking it.

"He tried and even succeeded a few times," Sirius shook his head as Remus held out a potion to him he retrieved from his own bag.

"Don't you dare give me the whole 'you deserve this' nonsense because it's a lie and I might just have to throttle you. Drink."

"James said the same thing," a small smile momentarily crossed Sirius' lips before it fell again and he looked down at his hands.

"He should have forced you harder," Remus grumbled as he felt around the cuts and clearest bruises to see if there were no lingering problems James might have missed, stopping at Sirius' hip as the other hissed.

"All right, trousers off."

"I'm not undressing in a classroom," Sirius protested, pulling away.

"Yes, you are. The door is locked magically and it are only your trousers. You can put your shirt back on again if it'll make you feel better."

"If I do this, then you have to promise you won't overreact," grumbling as Remus nodded, Sirius pulled his shirt back on before gingerly taking off his trousers.

"What did I do to that?" ignoring the new hisses coming from the dark-haired boy, Remus inspected the large dark-purple bruises covering the entire left hip, curling around his back and disappearing into his pants.

"Moony might have thrown me into a wall a couple of times," Sirius replied stoically.

"And why hasn't James used the bruise removal cream on these?"

"He did, twice actually, but it didn't really help. Oi," Sirius pulled away from him as Remus tried to shift his pants down to see the rest of the bruising and how deep they were as they crossed down to his leg.

"Honestly, you'd think I was some kind of pervert with how prudish you are," Remus rolled his eyes but pulled back. "I think we've seen each other naked often enough over the years, don't you?"

"That is in the privacy of our dorm, not in some unused classroom that you magically locked and anyone could unlock," Sirius pulled on his trousers again despite Remus' protest. "It'll heal on its own. Nothing is broken and no muscles are damaged."

"Meaning they were healed, because bruises that deeply aren't formed by a collision with a wall," Remus raised his eyebrow again when Sirius didn't answer. "Am I going to have to ask James, Sirius?"

"The hip was broken in two places and you tore a couple of muscles. It was nothing we couldn't fix in a few moments so stop feeling guilty."

"Yet the bruises are very much present and you're limping even though a week has almost passed. Of course I'm feeling guilty, I did this to you!"

"Only because of what I did," Sirius bit out as he pulled his robe on again and Remus' breathing stocked as he realised just how Sirius had received those bruises.

"You got those when you were getting between me and the door," vague memories of that night came back to him, a rage at the dark animal that had kicked the hatch closed and stood between him and his prey, coming back to him and he had to take several deep breaths to shake off the images of a limp form being tossed around.

"Remus?" he became aware of a hand softly rubbing his back and looked up into concerned grey eyes.

"First thing tomorrow, we're going to the prefects' bathroom and you're going to have a very long soak in hot water. And afterwards I am going to have a proper look at all of your injuries," he made sure his tone left no room for argument.

He knew the other wouldn't accept an apology for what he'd done, but it only made him loath himself more that he was the reason the other had remained in pain for so long because he believed he'd deserved it.

And that knowledge hurt him more than the supposed betrayal, to know his anger had kept him from doing the right thing while he knew how little self-preservation Sirius had.

Vowing to himself that he would never let his anger get in the way of doing the right thing again, he pulled Sirius back in an embrace, being mindful of the injuries.

"I'm sorry, about everything," Sirius' murmured into his shoulder as he leaned against him.

"So am I."

They remained like that for a long moment before Remus pulled back and shrunk his bag again, slipping it into his pocket.

"Come, we'll stop by the kitchen on our way back," holding out his hand, Remus swallowed thickly as a smaller one slipped in his after a small hesitation and everything seemed to fall back into place as he felt that familiar warm pressure in his hand, where it belonged.

"The house elves filled my bag with food, it's where Pandora cornered me," Sirius admitted. "I'm fairly sure Tiffy packed some chocolate cake, too."

"Then we'll eat that in our dorm and maybe we should give James a piece, too," squeezing Sirius' hand as warm grey eyes met his with a small smile, one he readily answered. "Let's go home."


End file.
